What I learned at the CS BuzzCamp in 2023

This document only describes experience with the Cramer Model module. Instructors from Python and Cybersecurity modules no doubt had different experiences.

What Went Well

Dry Run with MST Teachers

It was very helpful to preview the camp with the teachers. The teachers themselves are wonderful.

Middle School Camp

I aimed my technical content at the lowest common denominator, the junior high school students, and it was apparently well-received there.

Digital Cameras

The relatively expensive ($50) digital cameras purchased for the Cramer Model camp worked as advertised and were needed.

Coordinates, Measuring the Rooms, and taking Pictures

These concrete kinetic activities worked well. Students understood the coordinate system OK with relatively minimal explanation.

JSON and the Gimp, making textures

Overall, students learned JSON and how to use the Gimp to make photos into textures OK. These topics could be made more advanced for more advanced (or older) students, but older students seemed less interested and needed a bigger hook.

What Could be Improved

The Death March

The campers might have had fun, but for the instructor, the three simultaneous camps was a test of stamina which sucked all the fun out of it.

Fewer students

The largest camp age group, with 20 9th and 10th grade students, was more than I could handle. Really 12-14 students was pushing it.

Selection of students and teachers

The camp had mild behavioral issues and a few students who did not really want to be there. The teachers were mostly not STEM teachers with a couple exceptions. There is not much point in doing this camp with students who aren't interested and MST teachers who will not have a use for anything they learn. Uninterested students distract and detract from the experiences of the campers who are motivated.

Different and/or adjusted content for different age groups

Some were interested in a 3D Model and some were not. Maybe have additional topics available and let students select.

Tape measures

Maybe 6 laser tape measures were ordered for camp, and 5 more cheap manual tape measures were purchased at Walmart by the CS department. The expensive laser pointer features pose safety issues when used by juveniles, and did not add value. Instead, if the 3D Model module of camp were used again, cheaper tape measures, one per camper, would be more appropriate. The instructor brought in his own tape measures, including ones purchased at Dollar General and Walmart, in order to have around 20 for the largest camp.

Placing textures into the 3D model

Manual methods of computing the coordinates and placing textures into the 3D scenes were too involved or not described well enough. Students lost attention by the time they got to this. Maybe better examples and software tool support (a JSON level editor) would help.

Things to do Next Time

More and diversified funding

Camp costs need to be controlled, but to grow the camp we will need more funding from additional sources.

Get someone else

I do not plan to repeat this camp in future as an instructor. I would be happy to elaborate on why.

More instructors

Professors do not "scale up" well to handle an arbitrary number of campers. I recommend an army-of-students model in addition to or instead of a professor-model for the actual instruction delivered in the camp. MST teachers were helpful, some more than others. Of course, it will be difficult to recruit and train good student camp instructors.

Different subjects for different ages...or fewer ages.

More advanced students maybe would have been more interested in AI and machine learning than in the Cramer Model module. Then again, they were mostly interested in each other.